The SpidNums blog
Practical writing for Canadian accounting firms: CRA deadlines, workflow, pricing, capacity planning and the systems that keep a practice from missing a date.
Latest posts
50 posts for Canadian accounting firms
From Services Catalogue to Signed Letter: Engagement Letters in SpidNums
A walkthrough of SpidNums engagement letters: build a priced letter from your services, send a branded no-login link, and collect e-signatures on the record.
What SMB Clients Now Expect From Their Accountant (and What They'll Leave Over)
The service baseline small-business clients now assume — e-signatures, proactive deadline warnings, a branded portal, fast answers — and where firms lose them.
The Solo CPA's First Hire: When, Who, and the Math Nobody Shows You
When a solo practice should hire, why the first hire is usually admin or systems rather than a junior accountant, and the capacity signals that say it is time.
PIPEDA for Accounting Firms: A Working Compliance Checklist
What PIPEDA requires of firms holding client financial data — consent, safeguards, breach response, retention — plus Quebec's Law 25 and provincial overlays.
Quebec's Two-Administration Problem: CRA and Revenu Québec Deadlines Together
Quebec practices file with two tax administrations — CO-17 with Revenu Québec, T2 with the CRA, QST alongside GST. How firms run one calendar for both.
Rolling Out a Client Portal Without Losing Half Your Clients on the Way
A rollout plan for a firm client portal: segment clients, migrate in waves, script the announcement, and keep an off-ramp for the clients who will never log in.
A Client Communication Cadence That Prevents the April Panic
Design a proactive communication calendar — document requests, deadline warnings, status updates — that replaces inbound 'any update?' emails with scheduled touches.
What Late Filing Actually Costs: CRA Penalty Math for T1, T2 and Slips
The CRA's late-filing penalty math: 5% plus 1% a month, doubled for repeat failure, per-slip penalties for information returns, and arrears interest on top.
T1 Season Dates Firms Plan Around: April 30, June 15 and the Payment Trap
The T1 dates that structure a firm's spring: April 30 filing and payment, the June 15 self-employed extension, and why the payment deadline catches clients out.
T3 Trust Returns: The 90-Day Deadline and Who Has to File Now
T3 returns are due 90 days after the trust's year-end — typically March 31. Who must file under the expanded trust-reporting rules, and how firms track it.
How to Delegate Client Work When You're the Bottleneck
A delegation method for firm owners: classify work by judgment required, write the checklist first, delegate outcomes with review gates, and track handoffs.
Red, Orange, Green: How an SLA Board Turns Deadlines into Triage
Inside the three-colour SLA model SpidNums uses: how proximity-ranked tickets turn a firm's whole deadline load into a five-second morning read.
Every post, by category
The full archive. Deadline posts carry a review date; each one owns a single question rather than repeating its neighbours.
Deadlines & compliance
- Quebec's Two-Administration Problem: CRA and Revenu Québec Deadlines TogetherFebruary 2027
- What Late Filing Actually Costs: CRA Penalty Math for T1, T2 and SlipsJanuary 2027
- T1 Season Dates Firms Plan Around: April 30, June 15 and the Payment TrapJanuary 2027
- T3 Trust Returns: The 90-Day Deadline and Who Has to File NowJanuary 2027
- T4 and T5 Season: The Last-Day-of-February ChecklistDecember 2026
- Payroll Remittance Deadlines: Which Remitter Type Are Your Clients?November 2026
- Every CRA Deadline That Matters in 2027: A Firm's Working CalendarNovember 2026
- GST/HST Filing Deadlines by Reporting Period: Monthly, Quarterly, AnnualOctober 2026
- The T2 Deadline Isn't One Date: Filing vs Payment Clocks ExplainedSeptember 2026
- CRA Correspondence: A Firm System for Every NoticeJuly 2026
- Tracking Client Tax Instalments Across the Whole FirmJuly 2026
- Triaging a T2 Backlog: A Working Order for Late ReturnsJuly 2026
- GST/HST Audit Readiness Checklist for Canadian FirmsJuly 2026
How-to
- PIPEDA for Accounting Firms: A Working Compliance ChecklistFebruary 2027
- Rolling Out a Client Portal Without Losing Half Your Clients on the WayFebruary 2027
- A Client Communication Cadence That Prevents the April PanicJanuary 2027
- How to Delegate Client Work When You're the BottleneckDecember 2026
- Going Paperless: A Realistic Plan for a Canadian Accounting FirmDecember 2026
- How to Build a Client Deadline Tracking System (Spreadsheet to System)November 2026
- Capacity Planning for Tax Season: Start in October, Not JanuaryOctober 2026
- How to Manage GST/HST Filings Across Dozens of Clients Without a MissOctober 2026
- How to Build a Corporate Year-End Pipeline That Doesn't Depend on MemorySeptember 2026
- Engagement Letters for Canadian Accounting Firms: What the Conduct Rules RequireSeptember 2026
- How to Standardize Recurring Client Work with Workflow TemplatesAugust 2026
- The Client Onboarding Checklist Canadian Accounting Firms Actually UseAugust 2026
- Accounting Firm SOPs: Writing Procedures Your Team FollowsJuly 2026
- Client Document Collection: A System That Actually WorksJuly 2026
- WIP Management for Accounting Firms: Before It Manages YouJuly 2026
- Client Offboarding: A Clean Process for Accounting FirmsJuly 2026
- Accounting Firm KPI Dashboard: Set It Up in an AfternoonJuly 2026
- Moving From Hourly to Value Pricing in an Accounting FirmJuly 2026
Opinion & benchmarks
- What SMB Clients Now Expect From Their Accountant (and What They'll Leave Over)March 2027
- The Solo CPA's First Hire: When, Who, and the Math Nobody Shows YouFebruary 2027
- The Talent Shortage Is Structural. Small Firms Should Stop Hiring Their Way OutNovember 2026
- The Accounting Firm Tech Stack: What You Need, What You Don'tOctober 2026
- Fixed, Value or Hourly: Pricing Accounting Services Without GuessingSeptember 2026
- Why Spreadsheets Quietly Fail as Practice Management — and When to StopAugust 2026
- The Per-Seat Pricing Problem in Accounting SoftwareJuly 2026
- Tool Fatigue in Small Accounting Firms — and the Way OutJuly 2026
- What AI Actually Changes in an Accounting PracticeJuly 2026
- Can an Accounting Firm Run a Four-Day Week?July 2026
Product
- From Services Catalogue to Signed Letter: Engagement Letters in SpidNumsMarch 2027
- Red, Orange, Green: How an SLA Board Turns Deadlines into TriageDecember 2026
- White-Label Client Portals: Why Firms Put Their Own Brand on the SoftwareAugust 2026
- The CSV Migration Playbook: Spreadsheets to Client CRMJuly 2026
- White-Label vs Custom Build: The Client Portal DecisionJuly 2026
- Custom Domains for Accounting Firms: Your Brand, Your URLJuly 2026
- Client Data Residency in Canada: Why It Matters for FirmsJuly 2026
- Deadline Email Digests Your Team Actually ReadsJuly 2026
- Client Portal Adoption: Getting Clients to Actually Use ItJuly 2026
Stop tracking deadlines in a spreadsheet.
SpidNums puts every client obligation on one colour-coded board.